| Anthony Holds. 20th October, 2008 - 4:05 pm
 Many preseason prognosticators agreed that this was the year. This was the year that that continually up-and-coming team from the AFC South was finally going to wrest control of the division from the long-dominant Indianapolis Colts. This was the year that they were going to bring a devastating defense, a cagey game-managing quarterback, and a punishing two-headed lightning-and-thunder running game to bear in making the leap into full-blown Super Bowl contenders. After seven weeks, all those things are coming true.
The prognosticators nailed it, huh?
Only problem is, the vast majority of those prognosticators said that the team described above was the Jacksonville Jaguars. Oops. Turns out the team in the first paragraph is none other than the Tennessee Titans.
Don’t get me wrong. Everyone knew the Titans were a team to be reckoned with after they made it into the playoffs last year. Everyone knew their defense would be strong and that they’d get most of their offensive work done on the ground.
But come on… It was supposed to be Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor sucking the life out of opposing defenses on the ground, not Chris Johnson and LenDale White. It was supposed to be David Garrard managing games effectively and minimizing mistakes on his way to win after win, not -- certainly not -- Kerry Collins. It was supposed to be the Jaguars' defense putting the fear of God into the Colts and the rest of the league, not the Titans.
After seven weeks, though, that original script is turned on its head. The Colts have done their part in coming back to the pack, but it looks like Jacksonville also has veered off course at 3-3. The Titans, meanwhile, have come of age a year or two early on their way to the league’s best record at 6-0.
It all starts with the league’s best defense. Statistically, they’re third. But they’ve been the most consistently intimidating unit in the league thus far this year. They’re 8th against the run, 5th against the pass, tied for 3rd in interceptions, and they’re 5th in sacks. Get it? They’re really good.
On offense, Chris Johnson has been a revelation. The rookie (of the year?) from East Carolina has already rushed for 549 yards on 5.3 yards per carry. He’s scored four touchdowns. And, he’s opened things up for his heftier backfield mate LenDale White, who must feel like he’s back at USC tearing up opposing defenses with Reggie Bush. Ironically, White is tied with that same Reggie Bush for the NFL lead in touchdowns scored, with 8. He also has 314 rushing yards of his own. This past week’s game against KC was a showcase for the Titans’ tandem, with Johnson going for 168 yards, and White racking up 149 and three TDs', including an 80-yarder.
Meanwhile, Kerry Collins continues to make Vince Young a forgotten man as he quietly manages his way to victories. He’s unspectacular, and he’s not going to be headed to Hawaii in February, but he has the capacity to minimize mistakes, to make plays through the air when they’re needed, and to get out of the way the rest of the time.
When you take these three elements together, what you get (besides a better version of the Jacksonville Jaguars) is a team that has Super Bowl contender written all over it. The template is already in place, created by the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, a team that rode a dominant defense, a journeyman veteran game-managing QB (Trent Dilfer), and two relentless running backs (Jamal Lewis and Priest Holmes) to a ring in February 2001. And duplicated two seasons later by the Tampa Bay Bucs who (say it with me!) rode a dominant defense, a journeyman veteran game-managing quarterback (Brad Johnson), and two relentless (ok… decent) running backs (Mike Alstott and Michael Pittman) to a ring in February 2003.
Now the trick for the Titans is to keep building on this success and further perfecting their version of that proven formula. One thing that would help this process along is a signature win. They haven’t had one yet this season, but voila! They get their first shot at one this coming Monday night, when they’ll have a chance to slay the Indianapolis Colts and put a stranglehold on first place in the AFC South.
A win this week and the Colts are knocked out of the hunt for the division title. A win this week and the whole country will get to witness the Titans’ arrival in a nationally televised prime time victory over one of the league’s glamour teams of the past decade. A win this week… and what has been an impressive season thus far for the Tennessee Titans could begin the transformation into a magical one. |
